Report: Patriots out on Nick Fairley, expected to sign with Saints

Posted by Josh Alper on March 25, 2016, 12:09 PM EDT

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Defensive tackle Nick Fairley has drawn interest from several teams since the start of free agency earlier this month and it looks like he’s closing in on a decision about where he’ll sign for the 2016 season.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Fairley is expected to sign with the Saints, who met with Fairley last week. Rapoport reports the Patriots are out of the running for his services and presumably the Jets and Eagles, who also showed interest, have fallen out of the running as well.

Fairley would likely slot in next to nose tackle John Jenkins on the interior of the New Orleans line. That would likely lead to more playing time than Fairley saw as a member of the Rams last season. Fairley played behind Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers and saw 422 snaps on defense over the course of the year.

Fairley had 29 tackles and a half-sack over those snaps and had 98 tackles and 13.5 sacks over four years with the Lions.

Pats fans chirping about the bogus Bountygate? Ever heard of he who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones? Saints fans I know have sympathized with the Pats over the Goodell bogus deflatgate fiasco. Maybe now, not so much.

I’m a Pats fan. The DeflateGate experience has made me very sympathetic with New Orleans (Bountygate), Miami (Bullygate), and Kansas City (Tampergate).

Others too. Atlanta (Noisegate), Cleveland (Textgate).

Related to Fairley. I’m sure the Pats were interested in a one year prove-it deal with incentives. And with the number of teams involved, Fairley can command a multi-year deal with some guaranteed money. So, the Pats are out and focusing on re-signing their own players: Collis, Butler, Hightower, and Ryan.

Without getting into a lengthy diatribe, I challenge those of you that think The Patriots don’t spend to the cap or compensate their players well to do a little research. Honestly, you couldn’t be more wrong. Love ’em or hate ’em, they are the gold standard for how an organization should be run, including fiscally. Now, I’m ready for your “…but they cheat” comments.

Nick Fairley is an idiot if he can’t see that he has a better chance of a Super Bowl victory with the Patriots than any other team. The opportunity to play for Bill Belichick and to play with the greatest of all time, Tom Brady, is priceless. If he can’t understand the concept of team means not being greedy, then he probably wouldn’t have fitted in.
Excellence means being prepared to make personal sacrifices. New England has created a culture where only the best is expected and it is expected in every game. It is good to be a true Patriot.

Flash forward January 2017….Chris Long looking at his phone and has 2 messages from Fairley and Laurinaitis looking for Super bowl tickets
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Flash forward and Brady is as immobile as Marino was in his final days with his huge knee braces lol

Of the team’s mentioned here only one has a realistic chance of making the playoffs……and it’s not the one he is apparantly going to….

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The Saints were two games out of a playoff berth last season, they’re not exactly a bad team. Some progress from last year’s great draft class and a couple decent free agents, they’ll be right back in the hunt. They’re building a good young team and doing it the right way.

The Saints.
Are obviously trying to address the achilles heel of their team the last few years…that horrible defense.
Who knows how these signings will impact the play on the field but at least they’re not in denial that they can just keep on keepin on thinking that Drew Brees alone can carry their team to the Super Bowl.

That’s a solid collection of young homegrown talent on both sides of the ball. Not at all dissimilar to the team Sean Payton started building from nothing in 06 and three years later they won a Super Bowl.

Patriots will always be known as CHEATERS lol
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sb44 will always be known as the loser who sits in his mom’s basement all day commenting on Patriot articles instead of just cheering on his Saints.
Also, you are either lying about laughing out loud at your own writing, or pathetic for laughing out loud at your own writing.

—- No, Lions fan. NE just figured out what Detroit knew 2 years ago and apparently what St Louis figured out last year.
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Then why were the Patriots scheduling a visit with him?? LOL

Fairley is a big free agent signing? I know things are tight in NOLA but geez. Last year he signed a prove it deal with the Rams and here he is available again. The guy is a role player not a building block that’s why he is still available along with the other 2nd tier FA’s

Jets were 10-6 last year. I wouldn’t say a team with that record has no realistic chance to make the playoffs the next season….especially when last years division winner could be without their QB for the first quarter of the season.

Based on the way Patriot fans are reacting, Fairley was a HUGE Free Agent
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NOBODY (except for maybe you) ever thought that. NE was likely just kicking the tires on this retread and likely never made him offer beyond a “prove it in training camp” type deal. Same thing with Laurenitis, too.

especially when last years division winner could be without their QB for the first quarter of the season.
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which is very likely the main reason behind the whole framegate nonsense. Good luck with that. You’ll need it.

which is very likely the main reason behind the whole framegate nonsense. Good luck with that. You’ll need it.

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I wouldn’t say Framegate. A Frame is when someone is completely innocent. League knew what the Pats were up to something, so they monitored it….and the Pats were happy to oblige by sneaking footballs into a bathroom in front of a camera. If you want to call it EntrapmentGate I could live with it. People that get entrapped are usually criminals to start with.

What does that have to do with anything? The saints have had the worst, or 2nd worst defense in he NFL in 3 out of the last 4 yrs(one yr they got lucky w/turnovers). In a bad division. While the Pats go to the AFC Championship game(at least) every year. Pretty clear the Pats know what they’re doing. Maybe they wanted McClellen more than Laurenaitis. Maybe the Pats thought Fairly was the same old dog he’s always been when they interviewed him. It’s a 2 way street. Sometimes when a player leaves town w/o a contract, the team doesn’t want him, not the other way around. Not necessaraly a blowoff. The saints record for cap trouble and bad FA signings speaks for itself. As does the Patriots.